Alchemy

炼金术:灵丹妙药、实验与现代科学诞生的插图史

出版商： 耶鲁大学出版社

出版日期 : 2025年9月2日

语言 : 英语

打印长度 : 256 页

ISBN-10 : ‎ 0300280874

ISBN-13 : ‎ 978-0300280876

商品重量 : 1.74 磅

页面参数仅供参考，具体以实物为准

本书配有数百幅插图，通过炼金术的视角重温了化学、医学、思想和文化的历史。

炼金术自古以来就让人类着迷和困惑。许多早期文化都曾进行过化学转化实验：从青铜时代埃及的染料、釉料和化妆品，到古代中国和印度学者追求的长生不老药。许多人还尝试将铅、汞和其他金属转化为黄金，有些人声称成功了。在这本视觉上令人惊叹的书中，菲利普·鲍尔将炼金术置于科学和文化史的背景中，表明它不仅仅是一个深奥的幻想，而是实验科学和自然哲学发展的重要阶段。

丰富的插图补充了炼金术作坊中开发的方法和技术的叙述历史、跨不同文化的对点金石和“长生不老药”的探索，以及围绕炼金术黄金和炼金术药物制作实践的争议。鲍尔探索了炼金术的兴起，从它在希腊文化中的起源，到 8 至 11 世纪伊斯兰自然哲学的黄金时代，到文艺复兴时期自然魔法传统的出现，再到 17 世纪炼金术思想和实践在早期现代科学初期的作用。他追溯了炼金术思想在 19 世纪后期神秘学复兴中的持久性，以及现代艺术家和作家对这个主题的迷恋。这本引人入胜且通俗易懂的书将为所有背景的读者提供对炼金术及其历史的细致入微的理解。

Flush with hundreds of illustrations, this book revisits the histories of chemistry, medicine, ideas, and culture through the lens of alchemy

The craft of alchemy has intrigued and mystified people since antiquity. Many early cultures are known to have experimented with chemical transformations: from dyes, glazes, and cosmetics in Bronze Age Egypt to life-extending elixirs pursued by scholars in ancient China and India. Many have also attempted to transform lead, mercury, and other metals into gold—and some claim to have succeeded. In this visually stunning volume, Philip Ball sets alchemy within the context of the history of science and culture, showing that it was not simply an esoteric fantasy but an important phase in the development of experimental science and natural philosophy.

Rich illustrations complement a narrative history of the methods and techniques developed in alchemical workshops, the search for the philosopher’s stone and “elixirs of life” that extended across diverse cultures, and the controversies surrounding the practices of making alchemical gold and alchemical medicine. Ball explores the rise of alchemy from its inception in Hellenistic culture, through the golden age of Islamic natural philosophy in the eighth to the eleventh centuries, to the emergence of the tradition of natural magic in the Renaissance, and to the roles of alchemical thought and practice in the beginnings of early modern science in the seventeenth century. He traces the persistence of alchemical ideas through the occult revival of the late nineteenth century and the fascination of the topic for modern artists and writers. This engaging and accessible book will provide readers of all backgrounds with a nuanced understanding of alchemy and its history.

菲利普·鲍尔是一位屡获殊荣的作家、撰稿人和评论家。他的著作包括《生命如何运作：新生物学用户指南》。

Philip Ball is an award-winning author, writer, and commentator. His many books include How Life Works: A User’s Guide to the New Biology.